Culture Shock

By Steven Robert Allen

At the Donkey—In this case, it's perfectly OK to be an ass. The Donkey Gallery (1415 Fourth Street SW) is picking up the pace in preparation for the fall season. A new group of gallery collaborators made up of David Leigh, Larry Bob Phillips, Elena Agustin and Karl Hofmann will unveil an installation called Change Up this week. It will consist of site-specific drawings on the walls by the three dudes along with an architectural rendering by the lady. The installation won't be completed until right before the opening reception on Friday, Sept. 1, from 6 to 9 p.m. Also on display that evening will be city bus photographs by Donkey intern Maxwell Krivitzky. As always, expect some chow and live music at the opening. The show runs through Sept. 24. 242-7504, www.donkeygallery.org.

At the Levy—Teo Gonzalez is adding some bright hues to his previously colorless world. A new solo show over at the Richard Levy Gallery (514 Central SW) consists of work with the same grid pattern he's used in the past. This time around, though, the paintings are composed on colored fields with drops of enamel making up each unit of the grid. Each drop is then finished with a tiny nucleus of paint or liquid gold. The overall effect is both highly structured and oddly organic. The show opens this Friday, Sept. 1, and runs through Oct. 6. 766-9888.

At the MoRo—Artist John Garrett recently completed a commission at the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin to install three12-by-8-foot textile sculptures. He'll bring his art to Albuquerque starting this week for a solo show at MoRo Gallery (806 Mountain NW). This work will be smaller scale but will exhibit his penchant for pushing beyond traditional boundaries of painting, weaving and sculpture. The show opens Sept. 1. 242-6272.

At the Box—Ted Laredo plays with light in a new solo show up at the Box Gallery in Santa Fe (1611-A Paseo de Peralta). Laredo's paintings and wall sculptures incorporate thousands of tiny reflective glass beads and phosphorescent acrylic on everything from canvas to galvanized steel to Plexiglas. Feast your eyes at the opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. (505) 989-4897, www.boxgallerysf.com.